January 1, Mistrial Declared: Karen Read Accuses Cops of Framing Her for Officer Boyfriend’s Death

A mistrial was declared in the case of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend. Judge Beverly Cannone made the decision after the jury failed to agree on a verdict.

Read, 44, maintained her innocence, claiming her boyfriend was killed by fellow Boston police officers who then framed her. Despite five days of deliberation, the jury couldn’t reach a conclusion. Prosecutors plan to retry the case.

John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, had been dating Read since 2020. On January 28, 2022, the couple went out drinking and later joined some of O’Keefe’s friends at a bar. After midnight, the group decided to continue the party at one of the friend’s homes. Read dropped off O’Keefe there but decided to go home herself.

The next morning, Read went searching for O’Keefe. She found him lying in the snow, unconscious, and with signs of injury. An ambulance took O’Keefe to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Read was arrested and charged with manslaughter for allegedly hitting O’Keefe with her Lexus. Four months later, the charges were increased to second-degree murder, partly due to allegations that Read had admitted to hitting O’Keefe.

However, Read told ABC News that she was questioning whether she could have hit him by accident. “I said, ‘I hit him’? It was preceded by a ‘Did,’ and preceded by a question mark,” she said.

Read’s attorney, David Yannetti, questioned whether the injuries to O’Keefe could have been caused solely by Read’s car. A medical examiner found abrasions on O’Keefe’s right arm, two black eyes, cuts on his face, a laceration to the back of his head, and several skull fractures.

A tipster called Yannetti and claimed that O’Keefe was “beaten up by Brian Albert and his nephew.” This information led Read and Yannetti to investigate whether O’Keefe was actually killed at the party and left out in the cold to die.

Read later learned that the lead detective on the case, State Trooper Michael Proctor, was friends with the Albert family. She believed Proctor was helping to frame her, including potentially planting evidence in her vehicle.

With the help of a new attorney, Alan Jackson, the defense’s theory was able to sway enough jurors to question whether Read was actually guilty.

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